The Training Partner
by jaggedjacket
Summary: Shikamaru finds out his mom is back on the active roster and accepting missions. His dad personally hand-picked her new training partner and Shikamaru can't object to having her around. ShikaXTen Me no own. Don't we all just hate hospitals? Funny how that turns out in Shikamaru's favor.
1. Chapter 1

Shikamaru stepped onto his parent's porch at the same time the sole kunoichi from Team Gai had. He eyed her in the usual manner that he would anything else- -a firm scowl planted on his face and hands lazily occupying the contents of his pockets. One of his eyebrows shot up unexpectedly as his eyes roamed over her slender figure and tried to assess why she might be visiting his parents. She was smiling at him, some feminine pleasantry probably meant to lure him into a false sense of security. She looked amiable, somehow her presence seemed to exude a mixture of grace and deadliness that appealed to the shadow-user, but he pushed the thought to the back of his head as she rang the doorbell.

She only continued to smile at him and they stood in silence, neither one giving into the other as to why they were there in the first place, not that he needed a reason to see his parents. The door opened suddenly and Yoshino squealed with delight at the two of them. Tenten continued to smile pleasantly as his mother fawned over them and ushered them in. She even managed to give a motherly hug and brush the side of his cheek with her palm as she gazed over him with a sparkle in her eyes.

That instantaneously put him on alert, as she only did something so affectionate when she was extremely happy.

Or if his parents were fighting.

It was like some kind of mechanism that she defected to automatically if his parents were at each other's throats. She was sickeningly sweet and nice to him because, Shikamaru reasoned, she didn't want him to think that she was mad at him, or that he was the source of his parent's problems. She went out of her way to be nice to him during these times and apparently, even after he had moved out, her old habit died hard. He gave his mom a smile and a hug back, praying the whole time that his parent's marriage wasn't on the verge of falling apart. He raised her up off the floor with the hug, swinging her around the living room, letting a mischievous smile spread across his face as his mom half-heartedly protested.

"Shikamaru!" Yoshino finally squeaked, and Shikamaru placed her on the floor slowly, eyes returning to the silent twin-bunned kunoichi smiling fondly at the interaction of the two. "We have a guest, so try to behave yourself."

"Yes, ma'am," he drawled subserviently like a good son as he shuffled his hands back in his pockets and let the playfulness of hugging his mother subside. He wanted to make sure that if his parents _were_ fighting, his mom knew that he still loved her and appreciated her, even if his dad had a tendency to be a jackass sometimes. He prayed that his dad hadn't screwed up too big; perhaps he could somehow fix the mess they had gotten themselves into. It was most likely why his dad had called him over to the house in the first place.

"Are you ready to go?" Tenten asked timidly to the older woman.

"Not yet," Yoshino explained, "I wanted Shikamaru to show you where Hidan is while I get dressed and talk to Shikaku. I shouldn't take long." She ended with a kind smile to Tenten and headed upstairs.

Shikamaru turned to the kunoichi in question. She nervously slipped the small pack that she had been shouldering down by the door and cleared her throat. "Shall we?"

They walked silently out the door to the open fields of the Nara grounds. The clearing of the forest eventually turned into sparse trees overhead and scattered bramble. Shikamaru walked on in silence, the broken branches of twigs underfoot and the crunching of old leaves the only sound as they made their way to where the buried Hidan lay deep in earth.

He was sure that it seemed like a random place to stop. There were no markings around them to signify anything important. He gestured to no place in particular and casually made some introductions.

"Hidan, this is Tenten. Tenten," he made a hand motion to the ground, "This is Hidan."

There was an awkward pause as Tenten shuffled her feet and looked around like he was crazy. Her eyes darted around like someone was going to appear any moment. Obviously his mother neglected to inform her exactly who Hidan was and why it was important that she know where he was located. Wait? Why _did_ she need to know, anyhow?

Shikamaru let out an exasperated sigh. "Tenten, why are you here?" He really was too lazy to try and use subterfuge to get out the information, especially when he calculated that the direct approach would most likely be in his favor this time around. Tenten subconsciously patted down her weapon's pouch, eyes still searching for where ever this "Hidan" character was hidden.

"Your mom said it was important to know where Hidan was located before training. She said something about not wanting to accidently disturb him." There was a long pause as she looked around.

"Hidan is very dangerous." Shikamaru began as he keeled to the earth and placed a hand directly over Hidan's head. "He was a member of the Akasuki, he is immortal, he killed my sensei, and he is trapped here underneath the ground."

Her eyes widened as she took it all in and she took a step back like a knee-jerk reaction. "What?" she spoke with awe and fear. She was suddenly incredibly afraid. She looked ready to bolt. Apparently his mother failed to mention who Hidan really was.

"Come here," he commanded softly, trying to make her understand. "You can feel his chakra signature if you put your hand here." She looked at him as if he had just asked her to stick her hand inside a great white's mouth. She backed up a step, the fear still written all over her face.

"I think maybe this was a bad idea." He heard her whisper, and he could tell she was truly distressed. "I thought Hidan was a dog, or some strange uncle that lived in your woods or something." She took another step back, "I didn't think she meant _The_ Hidan, as in the religious homicidal maniac."

He got up and walked over to her, "You have to understand," he said grabbing her slender wrist. Her pulse raced beneath his fingers as he calmly walked her over to the designated patch of earth. He placed his large, long-fingered palm over hers as he pressed it to the earth. She squeezed her eyes shut like it was going to hurt. The surge of chakra beneath the earth fluxed with anger. He knew she had nearly died at the hands of the Akasuki years ago, so he understood why she would get so apprehensive about coming so close to one again. He figured facing her fears was the best way to get her to understand and not be afraid.

Shikamaru inhaled deeply, catching a nose-full of Tenten's shampoo, or perfume or something distinctly girly. It was a far cry from the crap Ino seemed to drench herself in before workouts that only managed to assault his senses. He realized that Tenten's was a mixture of laundry detergent and shampoo and body wash, because it was so subtle. He found himself getting closer to her, just so he could catch a little more of the clean smell.

The soft hand underneath him finally relaxed below his own and her breathing regulated. She was finally calming down. She hesitantly opened her eyes and Shikamaru held his breath for just a second. She had very brown, plain eyes it seemed, unless you got up close to them and were able to see the slivers of gold and flecks of honey hidden in the ring of her iris. He became fascinated and stared for a time that was most likely inappropriate, but he was too captivated to really care about social graces or formalities. Her eyes were amazingly beautiful, and he felt like he could get lost in them like he could watching the clouds.

"He can't hurt you as long as he is here," his words were barely above a whisper, and Tenten nodded that she understood what he was explaining to her.

A rumble reverberated from the ground, like the hum of destruction bugs under the earth buzzing towards the surface. Tenten tried to pull out of his grip, the panic back full force in her eyes. She was scared again, her pulse quickened and she desperately pleaded with Shikamaru with those whiskey colored eyes that she wanted him to let her go so she could run. His other hand caught her hand trying to pry it away from Shikamaru's, and he moved in so close to her, his forehead was nearly touching her hitai-ate.

"He can't hurt you." He repeated, pulling her closer with his hands. She began to calm down slightly, but her pulse still raced under his fingers.

"What is that noise?" she asked with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

"He is laughing," he stated, "Or growling." He shrugged his broad shoulders. "Not really sure since it's so muffled."

"Does that mean he can hear us?" she swallowed as her eyes widened in anticipation of his response.

"Yes."

She nodded that she understood, even if she didn't like the answer to the question. He reluctantly let go of her hands and they both stood up, leaving the rumbling in the forest behind them as they silently made their way back to the house.

"You never said why you were here?" Shikamaru opened the door for the kunoichi and let her enter first. He figured that since most of the training grounds had been demolished in Pein's attack, that she had asked if maybe her and/or her team could start using their property to train on.

"Didn't your mother tell you?" she asked with her head tilted to the side, "I'm your mother's new training partner. She is back on active duty and scheduled for a mission next month."

A/N: Please be patient on the updates on this one. My goal is to get this out quickly, but I am still hammering out some of the finer details of this one to keep it on track with what I want for the couple. (This is also the part where you can ask for things since nothing is set in stone.)

Cheers and thanks for the reviews!

*Jaggedjacket*


	2. Chapter 2

WARNING!: Excessive abuse of hyphenations.

O-(o)

Shikamaru's heart slammed hard into his chest, and for a few minutes the only thing he could hear was how loud it beat in his own ears. His mom was going to start fighting again? Hadn't his father and himself worked damned hard to prevent her from being on the front lines all this time? He knew his father, as strong as he was, would be a shell of a man if he lost her. Did his father know? Was that what his mom left to go talk to his father about? Was he just now being informed about this?

Shikamaru raced up the stairs to find his parents. His mother was in a sparing outfit, strapping a weapon's pouch to her hip with fumbling fingers like a genin, she had been out of the field so long. Shikaku, naturally, had a firm scowl on his scarred face, and what seemed like a permanent growl in the back of his throat ready to rumble a dissent of his wife's actions.

As soon as Shikamaru entered the room both parent's eyes fell on him. His mother's eyes landed on him with a proud smile, and he would describe his father visage as pouting at the moment, if it weren't so unmanly. The man looked like he was going to put someone through the wall at any moment he was so displeased. Displeased, and unable to do a damn thing to change it. Shikamaru stuffed his own panic down and did his best to look for some kind of silver lining. He'd seen enough clouds in his day that he knew they all didn't have one, but he really didn't want to be the person his father put through the side of the house with a comment that wasn't going to be helpful.

"Don't worry, I will make dinner just as soon as I get done training with Tenten." She turned to pacify her husband with a small squeeze to his forearm and Shikaku only seemed to furrow his brow at the thought.

"I will not have my wife finish training only to have to make dinner too." He turned a wary eye to his son. "Shikamaru and I will have dinner waiting for both of you when you get done sparring." His mom beamed and gave her husband a jubilant hug, and he noticed his father wrap his arms around her as if it were the last time he would ever see her again. He gently but firmly held his wife, his partner, and the mother of his only child so tenderly it made Shikamaru even more alarmed concerning his mother's safety.

"Tenten is a good kunoichi, Dad," he found himself saying, "Mom's in good hands."

"I know," his voice was muffled as he nuzzled his wife's neck and fisted his fingers through her hair.

"Stop that," she batted his hand away playfully, "Tenten is pretty strict about my hair being out of the way when we train." She touched the sides of her hair in search for any loose fly-aways.

"Good," the man grunted back to her, "Makes good sense to have your hair tied back."

It wasn't like Shikamaru could argue. His father had made him tie his hair back early on in life and it served him well. He never could get why Ino had half of her bangs in her eyes just for the sake of looking good. Not that he thought that it did, but who was he to judge fashion trends? Suddenly his thoughts wandered to what Tenten would like with her hair down. The moment passed so briefly he pushed it aside and smiled at his mother instead.

"Congratulations, Mom," he hugged her again, "I'm proud of you."

As soon as his mother had departed for her training, his father looked him over with a knowing eye and they both remained silent until they had reached his father's liquor cabinet and downed a shot of sake each.

"So Mom," Shikamaru began.

"Yeah," Shikaku poured another shot and Shikamaru happily drank to that sentiment. There was another long pause before Shikamaru spoke up again.

"Tenten really_ is_ a good kunoichi, Dad." It was the only thing he could think to say to comfort the man.

Shikaku poured another round, "I know I handpicked her myself." He downed the shot quickly after that statement while Shikamaru just stared at his father. He knew? How long was his last mission? Too long. It made sense now ,the half garbled message his father left on his answering machine. His father had probably slurred it in his maudlin state into the phone at the late hour only the night before. Shikamaru hadn't been home in weeks and the cold efficiency apartment that was waiting for him seemed like a shoebox in comparison with his parent's old house as the message bounced around the sterile walls. The decision to move out was necessitated by the amount of damage done to the Nara property and other clan residents. His parents had housed relatives that he hadn't even known existed after the devastation that Pein had left, and Shikamaru volunteered to find a new spot to stay until his father deemed it necessary to live on clan property again.

"How long was this in the works?" he found himself asking after draining the small sake cup.

"Too long," his father responded with a gruff voice.

"Why her?" Shikamaru couldn't help but ask, not that he had any complaints about her. He knew Tenten was good. He had fought with her in the war.

"It was between her and Anko." He paused to finger the lip of the cup with the pad of his finger, "I thought that Anko might be a bad influence on your mother. That," he looked his son in the eye, "and I didn't want Anko's boyfriend sniffing around our property. Tenten is single and just as capable, so she won out in the end."

Tenten was single? His mind drifted back to the slope of her neck as he watched her walk to the house and the way her hips swayed as she gracefully took each step. There was something about the swish of the fabric while she walked that had Shikamaru lingering behind her on the way home that evening. His buzzed mind wouldn't allow him to push the thought out so easily, and his eidetic memory only served to placate his need to keep his attention solely on the brown eyed girl. He played back the touch of her skin against his hands, the smell of her hair as he pulled her closer and the slight blush on her cheeks when she caught him staring so intently at her. But it was those eyes, he thought, that were better looking than any cloud-watching day he had ever had. He wanted another opportunity to get up close and personal with them again, and the desire to do was so strong, he wondered if he might have had too much to drink.

It turns out he _had_ had too much to drink. Shikamaru proved that after charing his thumb medium rare on a frying pan trying to flip over the fish before they burned in an effort to make dinner with his father. Shikaku had given him a stern look, something of a suck-it-up-and-be-a-man glare mixed with a don't-you-dare-burn-yourself-again-or-your-mother-will-find-out-we've-been-drinking-and-my-ass-will-be-in-trouble scowl. Shikamaru quickly bandaged it up and set the table, opting for a job where he couldn't flay open his skin with the slip of a knife or cause anymore bodily harm to his skin with fire.

The women had finally returned, sweaty and out of breath from the night's workout.

Shikamaru was just getting around to putting the tea on the table when a flash of lightning lit up through the glass patio doors and thunder boomed almost instantaneously afterwards.

"My guess is that your aunts and uncles are staying out at the Akimichi's tonight," Shikaku drawled as he placed the rice on the table. "They were out fixing roofs on their property earlier. I doubt they will be traveling in the storm to make it back tonight. I hope they are able to fix them before the storm hits."

"I should get going then," Tenten stated hastily throwing a thumb over her shoulder to the door, "I don't want to get caught in that either."

"Too late," Yoshino muttered as she peered out the doors surveying the spate of rain that came down in sheets, "Why don't you have dinner with us and we will see if it dies down by the time we've finished?" Shikamaru noted that his mom was wearing her polite don't-argue-with-me smile.

"I don't want to be a bother, a little rain never hurt me," she tried to wave it off and headed to the door.

"Don't be silly," Yoshino smiled sweetly, "The guys worked so hard to make us a meal; it would be a shame to let so much food go to waste."

Shikamaru could tell that Tenten really didn't want to impose. He also knew it was nearly impossible to argue with his mother, especially since she was being so reasonable about it. Shikamaru had to admit her manipulation skills were always sharp.

"You wouldn't let my son's burning his thumb to make dinner go to waste, now would you?" Shikaku passively asked as he shook his head wearily as if to state "there is no hope for our boy" to Yoshino who had raised an eye brow with authority at her husband. It was the beginnings of I-leave-the-house-for-an-hour-look that faded quickly with a roll of her eyes instead because her husband had smirked at her with a sparkle of mischievousness in his eyes. It may or may not have been accompanied by a subsonic chuckle that registered so low in decimals levels that only Inuzuka dogs would've be able to hear it.

Tenten just gave a dumbfounded look as if she didn't know whether or not his father was kidding, he said the sentence so seriously. Then Tenten cleared her throat and looked like she was hopelessly trying to suppress a giggle as her gaze landed on Shikamaru's charred thumb.

"I suppose I should stay," she stated with a straight face, "since you and your son went through so much trouble."

Dinner passed amiably between the members of the Nara clan and their guest for the evening. Tenten had even managed to get his dad roaring with laughter after telling him about the time Gai had bought some special scrolls for Tenten at a store where she was not old enough to purchase such potentially deadly weapons as only a mere genin. He had pocketed the delicate rice paper and ink for demo tags in his jounin vest before leaving the store. Right as Tenten had asked if he got the scrolls with eager anticipation, Lee had come up to him and had given his sensei a bone-crushing hug. She remembered hearing the pop of the bottle and Gai opening his vest up to show the inky spot that no doubtedly destroyed each finely hand-crafted fragile paper. Gai managed to answer Tenten's question by way of saying: "Half-off, damaged."

When diner was over, Yoshino and Shikaku insisted on doing the dishes together and that Shikamaru go and show Tenten where she would be sleeping. Tenten looked like she was going to argue, but the two Nara parents proved to be a formidable wall of we-won't-take-no-for-an-answer as they superimposed their arms over their chests and looked at her with authority.

"Wow, they really have that scary-parent-no-jutsu down, don't they?" Tenten marveled as they made their way upstairs.

"It's also code for they will be fooling around in the kitchen for the next half-hour or so. You're lucky my dad wasn't feeling my mom up when we left." He muttered with a gravelly voice.

"I can't argue with a warm place to stay the night." Tenten supplied happily after a bit of silence. Was she always so optimistic and cheery? How was her disposition able to be so comforting to him somehow? Even just being next to her was starting to make him more prone to smile. He made it a point to _accidentally_ lurch into her space as they reached the top step just to get another fantastic whiff of her alluring aroma, which only seemed to get _better_ after a workout. Her scent was mixed with the Nara grounds, something he never thought he would find pleasant on anyone, but it somehow made hers more appealing, almost like she was meant to parade around the grounds to formulate the heavily smells just for him. If he was an Inuzuka, he would describe it like some primitive territorial thing, his woman smelling like his land. What could be better than that? His smell on her, that's what.

That totally had to be the sake making him think that way. He realized that he had hours to sober up and a full meal, but he blamed the alcohol despite the genius in him blaming his hormones instead. That, and the possibility that he might have had a little bit of a crush on her since he first saw her at the chunin exams, but he was determinedly lazy enough that he had ignored such things. He blamed her proximity for the weird way he was thinking.

"I don't have anything to sleep in. Can I borrow some clothes?" She asked this so innocently, and yet Shikamaru's head could only get caught up in just how good she would look if she only wore one of his old shirts….and nothing else.

"I can hunt something down for you," he tried not to sound excited about it, but coming from him, it probably just sounded like anyone else's normal tone.

"Thanks," she smiled at him. It wasn't a smile that was formed out of just polite pleasantries. She was smiling for _him_, as if she thought he was special. Not special as in _stop-trying-to-eat-the-paste_ special. Special _just-for-him _special. He wanted more of those. More smiles directed at him from Tenten that made his brain go fuzzy were at the very top of his list of things that he needed more of.

"I will set you up to sleep in my old room since my aunt and uncle won't be there tonight."

"Wow," Tenten said as if she were impressed, "You really don't have to go through so much trouble. I can couch it, seriously."

"Trust me," Shikamaru tried to not look too disgusted as he spoke, "With my parents being amorous downstairs, you don't want to have to sleep on the last place they desecrated."

Tenten laughed at the comment, though he could tell that it wasn't done maliciously or at his expense. He needed more earfuls of her musical laughter. It was just as addicting as her smile or scent.

"Better hurry with your shower before the power goes out." Shikamaru shoved his hands in his pockets in an effort not to look anxious as lightning flashed in the hallway window. The proceeding boom shook the house and rattled the pictures on the walls.

She winked as she shut the door, as if to say she would be right on it.

Shikamaru shuffled into his old room hoping the power _did_ go off so he had an excuse to enter the bathroom while she was showering.

Okay, so his hormones were officially kicking his lazy ass.

O_(0)

A/N: No fish slaps…yet.

Which, by the way, fish slaps? Really?

Be careful what you ask for…


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I dropped the f-bomb in this. I don't do that often in my fics. I am sure one of you will go back, read them all and give me an exact count. (Which is _very_ cool.) I just wanted to warn you that the contents in this chapter have officially gone on to M status. I hope you laugh a lot at Shikamaru's expense. Enjoy.

No fish yet. Be patient.

O-(o)

Shikamaru began searching for blankets, pillows, sheets, anything that Tenten might need to be comfortable. Anything he found that was extra would be for himself. Having half his parent's house ripped apart in destruction of Konoha, a lot of things had gone missing. He rummaged through the hall closets to find some mismatched sheets that fit his bed, then stripped the old sheets off of it and replaced them, spending extra care to make everything look nice.

He had gotten caught up viewing the side of his room that had the wall replaced. He could see the new yellowish fresh wood overlap against the darker older pieces. He marveled that of all the trees that hadn't fallen over during the attack, the one right outside his bedroom window hadn't budged, but the one that _had,_ had knocked out half the house, including that wall to his room. It was disappointing really, he kind of always wanted the old tree by his window to finally collapse, as it obstructed his view of the sky with its thick branches as he watched the clouds above him as he lay in his bed. Nights like tonight, the branches would scrape the pane. He remembered years ago when he would sit up in bed and open the window just so he could snap the branches off to get some sleep. Opening the window now would only cause water to fall onto his bed, so he refrained from attempting to remove the branches even if it did mean that the kunoichi wouldn't sleep very well that night.

Perhaps she would come join him downstairs and he could keep her company…

Again he couldn't believe how easily his thoughts turned to her. He realized that he needed to admit his own feelings to himself before he ended up doing something foolish.

He would have to talk to Choji in the morning, he decided.

Choji would know just what to say to him to keep his perverted thoughts from spilling out into the open.

He busied himself with finding some clothes for her to wear. He had no intention of trying to find any of his mother's pajamas. He doubted she owned any anyways. She always seemed to lounge around in his father's old clothes. Now that he thought about it, there was always a smirk on the corner of his dad's face whenever he was watching his mother sleepily get up while wearing an old clan tee. Apparently that territorial thing ran in the family.

His mind wandered to how disgustingly happy his parents had always been. All that yelling that his mom did while he was little, he found out later, was to get him out of the house early so her and his dad could fool around. One accidently forgotten lunch and a trip back to get it permanently scarred him for life.

His parents were a little more open with him after that about needing some alone time, a request he happily granted as long as he never had to witness the horrific acts they performed on the dining room table after that.

He _ate_ there, for Kami's sake!

It was soon after that incident that his parents no longer cared if they got caught anymore by him. He hadn't realized that his parents were as amorous as they were. He was constantly finding them half-clothed in weird places around the house. The kitchen seemed to be one of their repeat spots, but really it was the laundry room that Shikamaru always knew he had to check before opening the door to, as they were prone to be caught there when the washer and dryer were running, muffling any sounds they made. He quickly learned to check for their chakra signatures every time he came home, making sure that they were separated before even entering his house. If they weren't he'd spend the time watching clouds until his mother found him, or he mustered up enough energy to check if they were finally done. He wasn't sure which came first, their amorous activities or his cloud watching. One definitely could have spawned the other.

The day he caught them in his room he nearly lost it. Mom had been putting his close away, bending over to shuffle some shirts in a bottom drawer when dad had passed by to witness the act. Even something as innocuous as putting laundry away turned the man on, apparently. Shikaku had come up behind her, placing his hands on her hips and growled low in her ear. He had gotten as far as getting his mom to abandon her laundry and she was reaching back to fist her hand in his hair when Shikamaru had arrived home.

He might have told them very loudly to "_go fuck like rabbits on their own damn bed," _before slamming the door and running off to the Akimichi compound, never wanting to see his bed or think about the desecration to every inch of his room done by his horny parents while he was at school.

"One day," Shikaku warned him, "You'll understand." Shikamaru huffed his dissent and shoved his hands in his pockets. He understood that his father needed to keep his damn hands to himself instead of all over his mother, is what. "There is a reason that the Nara men are considered lazy," Shikamaru didn't like where this was heading; "They are just tired from all of their rigorous activities with their women."

At that point his hands were firmly over his ears and no longer occupying the contents of his pockets. Girls still had cooties as far as he was concerned, and yes, he was pretty sure that he was just really that damn lazy. No girl would ever be able to change that fact. It was bad enough that he had to witness his father constantly "attacking" his mother, but now he had to hear about it, too?

His father had chuckled at his son's immature antics, promising one day that he would understand. That there would be a woman in his life he wouldn't be able to keep his hands off of. It would keep him out of trouble, he assure him. The Nara men actually had quite a bit of energy, they just channeled it more productively than other ninjas.

He remembered trying to kick his dad at that point, as he was unable to form seals with his hands placed parotically on his head. His father only laughed harder at his son, who mused on a rampage about how he should have over a hundred brothers and sisters by now. His father explained it wasn't for lack of trying and thankfully kept his hands to himself the rest of the evening.

Shikamaru _had_ noticed a flux in his energy levels recently. It was most likely the reason he had been taking long, exhausting missions lately and doing extra work outs. It helped keep his mind off of his hormones at least.

Oh, how his father would laugh at him now if he only knew.  
He probably _did_ know, as his father was also a genius. His parents insisting on Tenten staying over and having her be his mother's new training partner were probably his father's idea of paybacks for all the times Shikamaru cock-blocked him when he was little.

The branches scrapping against the windows brought him out of his frustrating thoughts.

He quickly rummaged through a chest of drawers and found a shirt and some old training pants for Tenten and left it out on his bed. He worried to himself about the structural integrity of the old tree outside his window briefly before pausing at the bathroom door on his way downstairs.

"Oy, Tenten," he called to her after he knocked, "I left clothes for you on the bed."

He heard a muffled "thanks!" through the door and checked his parent's chakra signatures to see if they were done yet. Since they were not separated enough to call it clear, he knew that going downstairs wasn't an option. Instead he focused his attention back on the branches that hit the window. Perhaps he could stretch his shadow out and snap them without it having to travel all the way down the house and up the trunk of the tree. If he timed it right, he could spread it thin so he wouldn't have to even open the window and he would be able to grab a hold of a branch as it hit the window pane. It seemed stupid to focus on such a tedious task, but as he had nothing better to do, and he needed to expel some energy, it seemed like the most logical thing to occupy his time.

He knelt on the bed and focused his chakra with a few quick hand seals. A satisfied snap of the first branch brought a sneer of triumph to the shadow-user's face. It was totally going to work.

And it would have continued to work faster had he not realized that Tenten had to come in his room wearing just a towel to retrieve the clothes that he laid out for her.

As much as he was concentrating, he was very well aware of the girl that had come hesitantly in his room wearing only a fluffy towel, lingering on his periphery because she didn't want to break his concentration.

Shikamaru had excellent peripheral vision. It was one of the only reason why he could sit exposed as he was cloud watching with his hands behind his back. It took a hell of a lot of will power not to turn his head and stare at her however.

She must have realized what he was doing after he snapped the second branch and quickly used the distraction to snatch the clothes on the bed before heading out to change. He didn't outright turn and look at her, but his eyes certainly swung out to get a better view for just a fraction of a second as she leaned down.

He debated opening the window at this point. The cold bitter wet wind would be a welcomed wake up call to snap him out of his salacious thoughts about seeing Tenten with her hair all wet around her shoulders, leaning over no less, to grab his clothes.

Maybe he should just step outside in the thundering storm.

He concentrated harder on breaking the branches, not sparing his chakra to complete the task. He wanted as little energy as possible pent up in his body.

His hormones were pent up enough; he didn't need the extra tension on top of that. Exhaustion would be his best friend, and right now, he was okay with that.


	4. Chapter 4

After finishing his task, Shikamaru made his way out of his room. Tenten had gone back into the bathroom to put on the clothes he had laid out for her.

Shikamaru passed his parents on his way down the stairs. His father declared that he was tired and bid every one good night. As Shikamaru turned the corner, she heard his mom and Tenten switch places.

He threw on his mom's apron and made sure that he occupied himself with the dishes and cleaning the kitchen until it was spotless. After that he would clean the refrigerator and sweep and mop the floors…anything to keep him busy while Tenten was that close.

It wasn't long after he had completed anything and everything short of actually repainting the kitchen walls, when his could hear his mom and Tenten start to chat again in the living room. He threw off the apron and hung it up on the hook where his mom kept it when she wasn't wearing it.

He braved sitting in the living room and talking with them. He could at least futz with the fire and add another log to keep them warm before bed.

As he rounded the corner, he could just barely make out their orange-ish faces in the small embers of what was left of the fire his dad had started before dinner. He quickly added a log, then noted that his mother was engaged with Tenten in one of his favorite pastimes with his mother: she was combing her hair.

Besides it being incredibly easier than getting a hair cut every month or so, his father and he had taken to growing out their hair so that his mom could play with it. She would give them a scalp massage as they idly laid their heads in her lap, cooing on about always wanting a girl so she could play with their hair. Shikamaru and his father figured them keeping their shoulder length hair was the next best thing.

Yoshino was sitting behind Tenten, filtering through her long, wet hair with a wide-toothed comb. Shikamaru tried to keep a bored expression on his face, placing a hand in his pockets with nonchalance as he prodded at the fire with his other free hand.

Tenten was nearly purring, letting off a low hum of pleasure as his mother tenderly worked through her stands, expertly taking out knots without causing any pain. "I always wanted a daughter," Yoshino spoke fondly, "I even got Shikaku and Shikamaru to grow out their hair long enough to play with it."

Tenten opened an eye just enough to glare at Shikamaru. "Is that why they have long hair? I always figured it was because they were too lazy to cut it."

Shikamaru shrugged, "We are." He figured that as long as his parents still thought he was lazy, he would run with it. It was better than them finding out their little boy had finally grown up and was thinking all sorts of inappropriate thoughts about his mom's new training partner.

His mom let out a low chuckle. "I remember Shikaku coming home and yelling at me for putting ribbons and bows in Shikamaru's hair when he was a baby." His mother smiled along with Tenten at the thought of Shikamaru sporting the frilly, girly accessories.

Shikamaru thought about fighting it, throwing a tantrum like a child, but that seemed to be a waste of time. Instead Shikamaru remained silent while his mother single-handedly ruined any chance that he might have had with Konoha's Weapon's Mistress.

"Awe," Tenten trilled, "I bet you looked good in pink."

"I'm lucky my mother didn't put me in dresses afterwards," Shikamaru chimed in, joining a laugh at his own expense. He figured he might as well, if his mother was bound and determined to make an ass out of him, he would enjoy the laugh, too.

Tenten and Yoshino laughed again, his mom continued, "He threatened to cut Shikamaru's hair after that. I had to promise never to do it again. He promised he would do his best to give me a girl."

Shikamaru glared at his mom. He knew that was just an excuse for why they seemed to be glued to each other all the time, but maybe not. The sentiment was sweet, and if his mom was saying so, his dad did make that promise to her. He suddenly felt bad now that he had been born a boy, even if the Nara clan depended on a male to succeed his lineage.

"Maybe Tenten will let me be her surrogate mother, even though she no longer needs one," she teased to the kunoichi on her lap as she continued to thread her fingers through her long locks, gently tugging at the scalp with each stroke.

"Gladly," Tenten spoke sleepily, "My mom used to do this to me before I went to sleep every night. It's very soothing."

Shikamaru was pretty sure that Tenten had been an orphan most of her life. Shikamaru and Choji had been lucky enough to have two parents still alive, and with marriages still intact to boot. Even Ino had lost her mother when the demon monster attacked Konoha.

"I used to do this to Shikamaru when he was little, too." Yoshino proudly added, "I suppose you are too big for it now."

"Hells no," Shikamaru piped up, yanking his hair tie out. "The way I've been sleeping lately, I could use all the help I can get."

"You haven't been sleeping well?" his mother furrowed her brows together. "Well, no wonder, with all those missions you've been taking lately. Too tense to sleep."

Tenten did not look like she was moving out of Yoshino's lap any time soon, and he had a hard time kicking her off-it seemed like such a dick-move considering what she had just revealed.

Tenten patted her lap with closed eyes, "I ain't moving, but far be it from me to deprive you of this."

Shikamaru's heart nearly slammed into his throat. He was supposed to lay his head in her lap? He tried to calm himself down. She probably did this all the time for her team. Neji had that long gorgeous hair that even Ino envied. No doubt she talked about hair ties and traded hair products with him. They probably brushed each other's hair and helped each other put it up on missions. He prayed that they just swapped beauty tips and not spit.

He tried not to look too excited as he moved towards her, or act like he thought girls still had cooties at the same time. He carefully placed his head on her hips and made himself comfortable next to the fire. She lazily threaded her fingers through his hair, taking the time to create small circles with the pads of her fingers along his scalp as she did.

If Shikamaru had been a cat, he would have purred.

He noted that she looked especially good in his old clothes. They hung off her lithe frame in a way that made Shikamaru proud that she was wearing them and not her own, or anyone else's.

His mom had finally called it quits and she got up from her spot and leaned over to kiss her son good night. Shikamaru gave her a peck on her cheeks complete with a small hug and a good night greeting. She bid the two farewell, warning Tenten that Shikamaru would most likely fall asleep in her lap and make her stay all night if he let her.

He replied with a very gravely, "Damn straight," closed his eyes and continued to enjoy Tenten's ministrations on easing every bit of stress out of his body. At some point she heard her hum a tune, something that must have been a lullaby, but was unrecognizable to him. Then she must have had enough of him, because she was nudging his shoulder and calling his name. He let out a very petulant and elongated _n_oooo, and turned his body over, hugging her around her middle and pinning her at the same time. She laughed at his childish truculence, and he grudgingly got up, filled with torpor and exhaustion.

"Your parents would kill me if I let you sleep in my lap," she replied. He was hovering over her, which was hardly registering in his head as he took in her dark flowing hair, straightened out over her shoulders that shined brilliantly against the firelight. She was looking up at him with and intense stare, as if taking him in for the first time. No doubt this was the first time she had ever seen him with his hair down. This was certainly a first for him, a full view of Tenten, wearing a Nara clan tee, hair down, casual, a soft side of her that he confessed to himself he wished he could see more of if he could help it.

She raked him over with her eyes, the kind of look that said something to him about how he was in her personal space, his head so close to hers, elbows locked at his sides as he pushed off of her to answer her back. He prayed that she might notice that his arms didn't look so damn lanky like they had in his horrible preteen years. The training that he necessitated had granted him a firmer and bulkier body than before and he thought he was finally growing into his limbs by accommodating them with more muscular frame. He couldn't tell if she looked on appreciatively or was just politely trying to tell him with a non-verbal that he needed to back off.

He gave a half-smile, lazy enough to show some teeth, but cheeky enough to know that he really meant it. "I'd die a happy man." He was met with a smirk of hers, and a non-budging attitude that let him know that she wasn't upset about his intrusion of her personal space. He felt a huge urge to lean over and plant his lips on top of hers, just to see if she might reciprocate anything, but climbed off of her instead, raking a hand through his hair to try to ground himself.

His hormones were making him stupid.

Had he really thought about kissing her just now? It was an insane notion, one brought on by lack of judgment due to her proximity. He wondered if he would ever have a coherent thought again in her presence.

She playfully poked him in the side, and he had been unaware of just how close to her he had landed when he had removed himself from her lap.

He focused on her again, and he got lost in those mesmerizing pools of hazel that he began to think of every kind of word to describe them while he waited for her to speak. Taupe seemed like too bland of a color to describe the brownish-gold he was looking at. The fire seemed to ignite some kind of flecks of other colors that made the iris sparkle, almost as if she were fey. The word honey came to mind, like an amber stone reflecting in the light after running it under water to make it shine. Then he thought of the deer he took care of, how a fawn's fresh coat glowed in the morning rays of sunshine. He wouldn't normally linger on something like animal fur to compare it to, but the memory that surfaced with the sudden color choice was peaceful and made him smile, so that was the one he settled on.

"Good night, Shikamaru," she spoke very specifically to him, as if she were trying to say something else entirely with her words.

He helped her up off the floor, and told her good night as well, hoping that she couldn't hear the booming of his heart as she smiled that special smile at him before retreating back up the stairs.

He'd be sure to get up early and train with Choji in the morning. He was going to have a hard time believing that his lazy friend finally got off his duff and found something worth putting in extra effort for.

A/N: This is getting to be way longer and more chapters than I originally anticipated. As long as everyone is enjoying the read so far, I will keep running with the muse.


	5. Chapter 5

Shikamaru tried to shake off the disturbingly real dream he had about Tenten as he prepared to go outside before dawn. As he walked the grounds to where the other members of his clan used to reside, he couldn't help but try to focus on the glimpses of Tenten from the wisps and pieces of his dreams that he wished were real and not figments that seemed to disappear and slip through his fingers like a wraith.

The early morning fog settled among the grass blades as stag and fawn and doe ate with tranquility in the open meadows. Shikamaru tried not to think of running back to the house just to wake up Tenten to share the moment with him. He settled for looking longingly back at the house before making his way towards the northern border of the property. Here was where most of his extended family lived, the bare shell frames of houses lay like skeletons against the slabs of foundations that months ago sheltered cousin and aunt and uncle alike.

Too many missions had kept him away from this place, and perhaps it had been for the best. Seeing the devastation to the property and houses seemed to be a turning point for the Nara heir. He made a solemn oath to resolve the matter concerning his clan as soon as he could. He tore the fragmented bits of wood and soggy drywall off of their post and created a large pile in a clearing for the debris. He took hours heaving the rabble of shredded wood and fragmented bits of housing to the clearing, until his hands were bloody and splintered and sweat dripped off of him. With heavy breaths he smeared dirt and blood from his brow, surveying once more the land that he was to inherit as his father's son.

They could begin to rebuild this week, if he could persuade enough volunteers to start the reconstruction. It seemed like his dad had been busy making sure that everything got delegated to other clans, in particular the Akimichis, before he began the painstaking reconstruction of his own clan's land. As "lazy" as the Nara men could be, somehow he didn't think that his father intentionally let his clan's needs fall so haphazardly by the wayside.

It was a test.

He really should have seen that coming, and he cursed himself for not recognizing that his father _had_ intentionally neglected his clan, effectively forcing his son to take the reigns as clan heir.

He would be pissed at his father, if it weren't for the fact that it was the perfect way to show the council that he was up to the task of succeeding his father. He threw the last of the jagged timber on the pile, and headed for a quick dip in a nearby stream to wash off the grime before making his way to the Akimichi's to find Choji.

Choji had come to the same conclusion, and gladly offered his services to him, along with some volunteers from his family. Shikamaru set out to get the necessary permits and proper paperwork in order. He made rounds around town about needing some extra volunteers, preferably shinobi, but anyone who knew the right side of a hammer was more than welcome to help. His plans for starting before the end of the week were well underway as long as things progressed this way.

After a full day of walking around and finding volunteers, not to mention filling out paper work at the Hokage's office and getting access granted for the necessary permits, Shikamaru eventually found his way back to his clan's property around dusk to pick up a few things before heading back to his hole in the wall of an apartment.

He set fire to the pile of debris he had created earlier, using an old familiar lighter from the inside of one of his vest pockets. The fire seemed to signify the end of an old era, and the warm glow reminded him that soon, his time to fill his father's place would rest on his shoulders. It should have scared him, but it felt oddly right, taking his place as clan leader and stepping up to help the other members of his clan. He wished that Choji could have accompanied him for the occasion. The sudden need for some form of human contact set upon him like a weight, and he soon felt empty and at a loss as he stared at the fire completely alone. The efficiency apartment didn't help to soothe that part of him that wanted to feel human, crammed into such tight quarters. He had to admit he longed to move back home, but knew that he needed to sacrifice for his clan, and that the other members came first over his own needs.

He felt cold, even against the roar of the fire; like his soul was being exposed to something raw and open that was so abrasive even direct heat couldn't melt away the feeling. He used a jutsu to help burn the rabble faster, if only so that he could leave the place faster, perhaps Choji would be up for some late-night conversation or a game of shogi.

As he added his own brand of accelerator to the mix, and was so close to the fire, trying to concentrate on not lighting his eyebrows on fire, he almost missed the fact that Tenten had nearly walked up next to him. He wanted to give her his undivided attention, instead of focusing on his foot placement on some of the debris to get it broken up as he battled the heat of the fire.

"Hey," She offered shyly, and the pops and crackling of the fire almost swallowed it up as she spoke. He looked at her through the haze of smoke and flying bits of ash floating between them. He couldn't help but crack a huge goofy smile at the sight of her.

"Hey," he called back, taking back the footing that he had lost on the plank of wood he was trying to push further into the blaze. "More sparring with my Mom?" he asked casually, rocking the wood back and forth on each foot trying to angle it further into the fire.

"Yeah, your parents sent me out here to look for you. I'm pretty sure that it was just an excuse to get me out of the house before your dad jumped your mom. I told them I would make sure to check up on you before I headed out."

Apparently his parents had no shame. "Sorry about my parents." He apologized through the orange flickers between them.

"Don't be," she made a face as if it were no big deal, "She's leaving on a dangerous mission soon, I get that he wants as much time with her as possible."

There was something that Shikamaru didn't need to be reminded of: the fact that not only his mom was going to be undertaking a high-stakes mission, but that Tenten would as well.

"So," she began rocking back on her heels, "Are you okay?" She asked this with one eyebrow raised and her head tilted to the side as if she would reject any answer that was a clear 'no.' She took a few steps tentatively towards him around the fire to get a better look at what he was trying to do.

He shrugged instead, in a non-commital way, refocusing on why he couldn't move the broken beam further into the fire. It must have been caught on something.

"You want help with that?" she asked nearly by his side now, and he hesitantly moved away from her so she could assess what he was doing. He used the time she was bent over trying to un-wedge the log to look her over again with his eyes. He loved her messy bangs and how her buns loosened just a little after a rigorous sparring practice. It was just enough so that the tiny hairs on the back of her neck fell loose, seemingly unaffected by gravity, only attached to this world by Tenten herself. When she looked up, Shikamaru could feel the blush burn on his face like he had just gotten caught, but he was certain that she would attribute it to how close they were to the fire. "We can pitch it forward into the pit, but that is about it. If we chakra push it in, it might spread the fire."

They crouched down to each grab at the end, Shikamaru noticed as they each took hold of the log, how much bigger his hands were than hers. Not that she had small hands or anything; he just hadn't realized how large his hands were in comparison. As their shoulders brushed each other, they lifted with a mutual head nod and hoisted the log up and pushed it into the blaze. It looked like Tenten had lost her footing, or that she was getting too close to the fire and might follow the beam into the pit. Shikamaru instinctively reached out his long arms and grabbed her around her waist to stabilize her. It was only for a spit second that he had his hands around her, pulling her back just far enough to be safe and then hesitantly letting go. It wasn't a big of enough incident to ask if she was alright, and now that Shikamaru had a better look at where her footing landed, he could see that she really wasn't in any danger at all, and that his act of helping her was completely unnecessary and most likely unwanted. She covered it all up with a shy smile and Shikamaru smiled and flushed furiously back at her with his hands finding their way into his back pockets as if hiding them from her would somehow remove his embarrassment.

"Thanks," he spoke as he moved away from the heat of the fire.

She smiled back at him, "Yeah, no problem." She dusted off her hands against each other. "Well, I'm going to head back to camp," she threw a thumb just north of where they were, and Shikamaru couldn't help but furrow his brow in confusion.

"Camp?" He asked, taking a step towards her and transferring his hands from his back pockets to his front. "I thought that everyone had found proper housing by now and that all the war camps had re-established residency within Konoha."

"Well, yeah, most everyone _has_. Just about a dozen left of us that are on waiting lists for apartments. The Hokage personally asked us if we didn't mind waiting a bit longer so that civilians could be put on the list first. Well, that was a few months ago. I honestly look forward to missions, on the off-chance we get lodged in a hotel just so I can enjoy indoor plumbing again." She laughed half-heartedly at her own misfortune with her head down, almost embarrassed about her situation.

"How much damage was done to your tent last night?" Shikamaru asked, knowing perfectly well that if the tent had been opened and unattended everything inside would have gotten either washed away or ruined.

"Yamato keeps an eye on my stuff when Lee's away, so nothing got destroyed. He was just a little worried when I didn't show up last night."

Shikamaru stuffed the pang of jealousy he suddenly felt against Yamato for the logical conclusion that there was something that Tenten, Lee and Yamato all had in common. None of them possessed any family to stay with in Konoha, so they were left to linger in tents outside the gates until proper housing could be found for them. Shinobi could rough it a lot longer than most civilians, and the fact that the Hokage had personally asked this of the most-likely all orphan community of grown shinobi war veterans showed how desperate Konoha's housing situation had become. That or the Hokage had forgotten about them, a dozen shinobi seemed a diminutive number compared to the hundreds that once camped out there a few short months ago.

All the more reason to get started on his own clan's housing needs. Still, it didn't seem right that the few soldiers that had somehow gotten circumvented through the system would not be able to have housing for most likely another few months just because civilians were more likely to complain about it.

"You could stay with me," he blurted out, before actually thinking it through. She looked up sharply at him, as if startled by his sudden outburst. "If you wanted," he stated more casually. "There isn't a lot of room. It's an efficiency apartment so you might be more comfortable in your tent." What was he saying? Was he _trying_ to talk her out of staying with him?

"Do you have running water?" She asked suddenly.

"Yeah."

"Sold," she spoke almost as soon as Shikamaru had let the word leave his mouth. "I'm the only girl left at the camp. Not that I can't handle my own, but some of the guys are getting a bit… territorial." She shook her head as if trying to erase some horrid memory from her brain. "Anyhow, not that I want to abandon Lee, it just well," she hesitated, shifting her weight from one foot to the other and absent-mindedly and tugging at one of her gloves nervously, "Let's just say I need to get out of there," she rushed.

"Do you want me to go with you to get your stuff?" She brightened up at the offer, then slumped her small shoulders forward.

"You have to keep an eye on the fire," she pointed the blaze that was only half way burned, "I can go by myself, I won't be long. I just have to lock some things in my scrolls and pack up my tent. Twenty minutes tops." She held her hand up like she was taking an oath, but Shikamaru couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen while she was gone.

"If you don't hear from me in twenty, come after me." She smiled, but Shikamaru could see the worry in her eyes as she began to slowly step away from the fire.

In a split second decision, one that Shikamaru knew he wasn't going to regret, he spoke up with determination, "No, I'm coming with you."

He formed some hand seals and quickly blew the fire out with a cold spray of water from his mouth. The blaze ended with steam coming out of the wreckage like a cloud, and Tenten looking a bit impressed that he had picked up a new jutstu. He tried not to stand taller at the way she was looking at him. He rather like the fact that he could impress her, even if she hadn't verbally stated so much. Her look had spoken more than words; there was a mixture of admiration, awe, and possibly, something else he couldn't place hidden behind her mischievous eyes and a half-smile.

"That should do it," he casually fingered the inside of his pocket's lining to calm himself down. "Let's go."

A/N: Yikes this got long. The next chapter might get more serious than I originally intended. Perhaps the fish slap scene will brighten things up a bit.

Thanks for the love on this guys!

+JaggedJacket+


	6. Chapter 6

The soft ground under foot made Shikamaru realize how much rain had down-poured the night before. Whatever giddy sensation he had about the Weapon's Mistress of Konoha spending the night in his tiny apartment was squashed by the overwhelming alarm he had about approaching the all but abandoned camp. The trees gave way to a muddied expanse of land, trampled by hundreds if not thousands of people from the massive camp that had been established years ago. It now laid desolate, save but a few random shinobi that inhabited it, who seemed to have been all but forgotten along with the unused fire pits and logs that littered the empty fields.

At the edge of camp were a few select tents and a smoking fire pit next to a bucket. Shikamaru spotted Yamato, who sat on a fallen log with another shinobi, Hiroto, hovering over him, fussing over the wood user's bandaged arm. Shikamaru was going to walk over to them when another shinobi staggered out of his tent, clearly drunk as he slurred a salacious greeting to Tenten. She quickly dodged the man and headed off to her tent to gather her supplies.

Shikamaru stood between the drunken shinobi who had began to lunge towards the spot of camp where Tenten was situated and he effectively ran into Shikamaru's chest.

"Hey buddy," Shikamaru wrapped an arm around the shorter man's shoulders and redirected him back to his tent, "You look tired, maybe it's time to get some shut-eye."

The shorter man slugged off his arms with a cantankerous flare, then stumbled a little to catch his balance from the act. With an incoherent curse, the man grabbed his head as if in pain before pointing an unsophisticated finger Shikamaru's direction. "Sees mine!" another stumble backwards and a moment to regain purchase. He pointed a churlish finger once more into Shikamaru's chest. "Ya cain't have 'er!"

Easing the finger away amiably, Shikamaru reasoned with him, "Naw, she ain't property."

He pressed the edge of his palm to his forehead again, as if his head was searing from pain. Shikamaru thought the man looked oddly familiar, then he realized that he was used to seeing him with a bandage around his head.

Of course now that he thought about it, that was exactly where he was from. He remembered him from the war, sporting a head injury on one of the last few days. Whatever care he had gotten must not have fixed the problem completely. That probably explained the drinking as well. He was clearly in need of some help and medical attention.

"See come in mah head an' fix 'er. See tha only thin that make it stop the scream!"

Ok, so maybe a lot of help.

He spied out of the corner of his eye that Tenten had finished packing up her things which were currently safely locked away in a scroll on her back. She had carefully walked over to Yamato and Hiroto while Shikamaru had offered the distraction. She fussed over his arm, talking to him in a low voice, then finally took his good arm around her shoulder to help him up. She walked over to them, and shifted Yamato's weight and her scroll on her back. Yamato was looking a febric shade of pallid, letting his head hang from his neck as if he were to pass out any at any minute.

Hiroto followed the two and tried to coax the drunken one from harassing Tenten. "Yuuta, let's grill these fish," he lead him over to the bucket of fish, but Yuuta only seemed to become more encouraged to violence with every attempt to separate Tenten from him.

"No!" he shook Hiroto off with a push of his arm. Yuuta bent over again by the fire, holding his head and hissing in pain. Shikamaru held his hands out in a I'm-not-going-to-hurt-you kind of way, and as the shadow user got closer, he heard a sudden splashing of water right before Yuuta turned at rapid speed and cold-cocked him with the side of the fish he had grabbed from the bucket.

Shikamaru could feel the scrape of the fin cut his cheek, the sheer cold weight of the force of the blow knock him back, and the utter shock he felt at being caught unawares by a drunk no less. Yuuta used his momentum to roundhouse with the fish and had caught Hiroto with a blow as well. Shikamaru vaguely remembered that Yuuta used some spinning jutsu, which accounted for his speed even while drunk. He didn't feel so bad about getting caught unawares all of a sudden.

Fish slapped. If anyone ever caught wind of this, he would never live it down.

He wasn't about to get hit with the fish a second time. He noticed that Tenten was keeping Yamato at a safe distance, but was ready to jump in if things got out of hand. He wasn't going to let her let Yamato go to help him out. She needed to stay out of this as much as possible, since Yuuta kept going on about her. She was safer staying out of the fight in case he started doing something inappropriate. He could take care of a fish-slapping drunkard by himself. Invoking his own clan's jutsu, he stabilized the shinobi in his tracks.

Hiroto had finally gotten up off the ground, rubbing the side of his face that had been struck by the fish, which had resolved itself to flop around and get muddy, edging its way towards the fire. Hiroto picked it up and replaced it in the bucket, then with a few hand seals, knocked out Yuuta completely and grabbed him around the middle and dragged him into his tent.

"Thanks," Hiroto scratched the back of his head, "That only works if they are still. Ten's been able to subdue him by rubbing his temples at night to get him to sleep, but lately, well," Hiroto tried to finish with a sour look, "he's gotten out of hand."

"You mean he almost _lost_ a hand," Yamato pipped up in his fevered state from beside Tenten, who were now walking towards them. "We were assured by the hospital that he would have been re-checked by now. They told us they are backed up, but if they had a cancelation, they promised that he would be the next available on the list for an operation. But, hey, we've been promised a bunch of crap up until this point. It's not like we can hi-jack an OR to figure out what's wrong with the poor guy. He needs a risky surgery to fix whatever _is_ wrong. Kami knows we've drained ourselves of chakra trying to heal that man."

"Speaking of healing, we need to get you to the hospital." Tenten shifted his arm across her shoulders again, and Shikamaru tried to wipe the fish snot off of his face before taking up the other side to support him.

Once safely at the hospital, Yamato was admitted right away and kept overnight for observation.

"Sheesh," Tenten commented as they descended the hospital stairs. "I might keep you around for a while, that is the fastest I have ever gotten medical treatment for an injured person from the ER."

"It's ridiculous that they even play favorites. Status should have no impact on when a person seeking medical attention gets help." He shoved his hands in his pockets with a slouch to try and staunch the wave of irritation that swept over him. "Just because you don't belong to a clan, doesn't mean that you aren't important."

"Tell that to Dr. Stink-Eye back there," Tenten motioned over her shoulder, "He hates working on shinobi, especially those without clan influence. Apparently if you can't be useful to him, he doesn't feel compelled to do his job." Shikamaru decided to store the information away for now about the doctor. He turned to see her give another sordid smile then nonchalantly rub her forearm with a half-gloved hand. Then more soberly she added, "Thanks again, for everything, Shikamaru, you've been a real life-saver."

There he was with his hands in his pockets, smiling at her like an idiot, but not really caring due to the fact that she was smiling sincerely at him back. Could he ever get used to how much he liked her smile?

"You may not thank me when you realize that you have to share the floor with me," he spoke with jest, "My feet fall into the kitchen."

She held a hand up to stop him amiably, "As long as I'm not sleeping in the toilet, the floor is fine."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Shikamaru explained when they were finally at the apartment door. He was only able to open the door part way as his bed roll had unfurled itself and blocked the entrance. This seemed to be a reoccurring problem for him, but he reached a lanky arm inside and pushed it back so they could both barely stand together in the space that was his bedroom/living room/kitchen.

Wide-eyed, Tenten couldn't even swing fully around without hitting Shikamaru with her scrolls. Shikamaru held the bedroll in his arms trying to create the illusion of more space. There was a modest shelf that was inlaid in the wall. The shelf space was small, but was big enough to house some random scrolls, his shougi board, and hand weapons in various stages of being sharpened and polished. The shelf and its contents were the only decorating that Shikamaru had done to the place. There was a kettle on a single stove burner that served as the only heated surface in the apartment. Other than his bed roll and his hamper, they were the only things occupying the apartment.

"It's nice," Tenten commented awkwardly, then cleared her throat.

"Want a tour?" Shikamaru offered off-handedly.

Tenten looked as if she wasn't sure if it were a rhetorical question or not. She answered with a hesitant "sure(?)," and Shikamaru obliged to open the bathroom door after leaning forward from the living room and pushed it open, "This is the bathroom. Everything that is not the bathroom is where we are going to sleep. That about covers the tour. Did you need to see anything else shown to you again? I wouldn't want you getting lost. Might take you hours to find your way back to the living room from the bathroom, because this place is so…" Shikamaru hugged his bed roll, looking up at the low ceiling and tiny walls that threatened to close in around them, "big." At least his misfortune brought out the humorous side of his sarcasm.

She replied first with a bright smile and small chuckle before adding, "I might need to have the tour one more time. I wouldn't want you to worry if I can't find my way back from the bathroom in the middle of the night."

Playing along, the shadow user pointed to the door of the bathroom. "As you can see, this master-bathroom is equipped with a hot tub and a separate shower stall. As we travel into the kitchen, currently where your left foot is located, you can see the imported stove and hand-painted ceramic pottery. As we travel into the master bedroom, where your right foot is located, please do not lose yourself in the expansive walk-in closet," he gestured with one arm to the meager shelf. His tongue and cheek statements were bitten off in a low voice, more evidence that the Nara heir was very exhausted and needed rest. Tenten humored him with another smile, and Shikamaru couldn't help but sloppily smile back in a toothy grin himself.

She disappeared into the bathroom, leaving her scrolls to take up the area of the corner of the "kitchen" as Shikamaru unfurled the bedroll across the surface of the apartment. He washed the fish slime from his face off in the kitchen sink and settled down on the floor to try to relax. He took the area closest to the wall, hoping she wouldn't mind the side closest to the door and slid his arms behind his head as he usually did when he cloud-watched.

When she peeked her head out to ask him a question, he tried to remember that he was supposed to act lazy and not jump at the chance to get her what she wanted.

"Hey, Yamato leaked on my shirt. It's the last clean one I have until I do laundry tomorrow. Do you have a shirt I can borrow?"

Crap, that meant that Yamato had probably leaked on him as well. Sure enough, the wood users blood had stained a spot on his shoulder. He probably hadn't smelt it because the smell of fish overpowered the smell of blood. He quickly took off his own shirt and rummaged through his hamper to find only one clean shirt left. He handed it over to her through the door.

"Looks like we will both be doing laundry tomorrow."

"Oh, I don't mean to put you out."

"No worries," he drawled sleepily, "I usually sleep without a shirt."

Shikamaru had replaced himself back down in his bedroll and had faded out before Tenten joined him shortly after. The exhaustion had hit him like nothing he had experienced before. His rigorous workout coupled with a full day of running around all of Konoha had finally taken its toll. He slept deeply, peacefully, curling his body to another heat source in the cold of the night. He legs tangled with softer, velvety ones, and he nuzzled what seemed like a blanket of silk. He took the form closer to himself, gripping soft skin and inhaling subtle scents of heaven while he dreamt. He murmured fervently to the angel held in his arms. Whispers of promises and confession on his lips, he held on to nothing in his mind as his body continued to hold on to the warmth next to him. As his fingers filtered through the curtain of soft hair, he found flesh and worshiped it with his lips, more promises against her ear of all he held in his heart, how he longed for her, to keep her near, to protect her, to be with her and make her happy always.

Then like a wraith she slipped through his fingers, and the harsh morning sun burned his eyes as he woke up only to find that he was alone.

A/N: Sorry this was so long, but I got the fish-slap in!


	7. Chapter 7

Shikamaru prayed to every deity he could think of that the bits and pieces and figments he was able to recall from last night were only a dream and not a memory. He still felt a bit groggy as he perched himself up on his arms, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands thinking and mumbling another quick litany of pleas and curses as realization hit him full force.

She was gone.

There was no note left, the shirt he had given her last night was also gone, there wasn't even a long hair of hers that was in his apartment to signify that she had even been there the night before.

That was all very frustrating.

He dragged his hamper down to the local laundry mat in hopes he could meet up with Tenten "accidentally" to explain himself. The laundry mat was surprisingly empty, and the shadow-user quickly got his clothes washed and dried in record time. He used the intermittent time while his loads were sucking up all of his free coins to check the local shops and see if he could randomly bump into her there. With no such luck, he quickly folded his laundry and dropped it off at his apartment and headed off to the Nara clan estates to see if he might be lucky enough to catch her there training with his mom.

Whatever cool of the evening lingered was quickly wearing off, and the heat of the noon sun was quickly starting to penetrate through his flak jacket to the point where Shikamaru wanted to take it off.

His father was busy talking to some surveyors equipped with blueprints under their arms, heartily chuckling at a joke and pointing to where the construction of the land was going to be when Shikamaru walked up to them. Whatever panic about Tenten he felt, it would have to wait until he was able to settle things with the city workers concerning getting the housing situation fixed on their property.

They were there ahead of schedule, whether that was his father's doing or they were simply just early, it didn't really matter. Shikamaru suffered through all the formalities with his father, accommodating the two men by taking them out to lunch at the nicer part of town. He caught a glimpse of her as they were walking off of their property, and it took all of Shikamaru's self-control not to turn around and pull her aside and talk to her. As they shuffled into a booth at the restaurant, Shikamaru noticed as he looked out the window that there was a new restaurant that opened up on the opposite side of the street. Steel lanterns hung around the sign outside, and Shikamaru could faintly make out a large expansive garden in the back of the restaurant.

It looked like the perfect place to take Tenten on a date.

He memorized the name of the place and was determined to ask Tenten out before all of the construction was done to the new houses on the north side of the Nara property. Once he had set that in his mind to do, it was easier to focus on the meeting with his father.

Once they filled out more paperwork and signed on the dotted lines, they were able to start as soon as the next day. Shikamaru couldn't help the smile that fell on his face. It was a new beginning.

When he followed his father back to their estates, he was hoping that he might catch Tenten coming in from her training session with his mom. Instead he came into his parent's house full of confusion, with his mom nearly hysterical and Tenten trying in vain to calm her down. Tenten was in the kitchen soaking wet from head to toe while his mom tried to strip the wet clothing from her body and Tenten trying to fight her off. Her murmured voice was a mixture of apologies, cursing and concern for the younger girl. His dad's low voice raised above all the commotion, and everything stopped except the small chattering of Tenten's teeth.

"What's going on Yoshino?" Shikaku nearly demanded of his wife. Shikamaru was wondering the same thing beside him as he finally shrugged off his chunin jacket, and his mother stopped tugging on Tenten's sleeve, much to her relief, and spoke so fast that Shikamaru only heard every third word of what she was saying.

That indicated that his mom was stressed, although why she was mauling Tenten was anyone's guess at this point. Shikamaru noted that the vent to the kitchen was right above the saturated weapon's mistress, and that his dad was known to crank the air conditioning on hot days like today. That would account for why her teeth were chattering.

As for why she was wet and why his mom was furiously trying to get her out of her clothes, well, Shikamaru wasn't able to keep up with his mother's frantic and speedy explanations. Tenten tugged the sleeve on her shirt down, scratching at her wrist casually as she did, which sent Yoshino off into an almost super-sonic screech that had everyone jerking their arms up in the air in self defense.

"DON'T SCRATCH AT IT! IT WILL MAKE IT WORSE!"

Tenten immediately held her hands up in the air away from her body letting the older woman know that she had no intention of disobeying orders. Yoshino started in on trying to tear her shirt off again, and continued her mutterings of insanity while Tenten did her best to explain what was going on.

"I fell into a patch of poisonous plants. We aren't sure if we got back in time to wash the toxins off. She hosed me off outside and told me that I needed to get out of my clothes so that the poison doesn't spread. Hey," she redirected her attention to Yoshino, "I can undress myself ya know," at this Yoshino stepped back as if it were a revelation from Kami himself, "I would also like to do it in a much more private venue. I don't think here is very appropriate." It wasn't meant to be much of a chastisement, more like a statement to calm the woman down as she motioned to her son and husband.

At this his mom blushed, BLUSHED of all things, then mumbled an apology and backed off.

"If I can borrow some spare clothes I can just change in the bathroom." She stated this in a hushed voice as her thumb pointed over her shoulder. Tenten offered up a simple solution.

"Shikamaru," his father's voice commanded, "Go get her a change of clothes and the salve on the top shelf of the medicine cabinet. Yoshino, that jar is almost out, you're going to have to get more," there were two head nods to him in compliance. "You," his father pointed a tanned, leathery finger in Tenten's direction. "Get in the bathroom and take those clothes off pronto. I am going to find the plants you fell into and make sure that the medicine we have will work for the remedy. Then," he spoke while looking at his mother, "I will make sure they are destroyed for good. We cannot have people here on our property building new houses while these plants are still alive." At this she simply nodded again, and the group, having direct orders, dispersed to follow them out accordingly.

Shikamaru took three stairs at a time in his hurry, riffling through his old dresser again grabbing at the clothes in his haste. Then he nearly knocked everything over in the medicine cabinet trying to find the salve. His father wasn't right when he stated that it wouldn't be enough; the container was only half empty. He palmed the small jar in his hand and headed back down stairs. His father probably just wanted to give his wife a job to calm her down and distract her so that she would no longer potentially get herself exposed to the contagious toxins or to cause further harm to Tenten.

Once downstairs he knocked cautiously on the door and handed Tenten the clothes. "No itching," he reminded her through the door as she got dressed. "I have the salve, I can help you put it on when you are done."

"This is the third day in a row I am wearing your clothes," Tenten commented offhandedly as she peeled the wet clothes off like a banana. "I have the shirt you lent me last night, by the way. I wanted to wash it today after I got done with sparing with your mom before I gave it back to you since I knew you had to do laundry, too. And I wanted to talk to you about…" she trailed off with a very muffled "ut oh," following afterwards. If Shikamaru hadn't strained himself to hear it, he wouldn't have.

"What do you mean 'ut oh,' Tenten?" Shikamaru tried to make her finish even as he pressed his ear against the door to listen for more sounds. He heard her hiss and wince, doing her best to try to hide the sounds from him.

"You are not going to want this shirt back," she answered in a shaky voice.

"What's going on? Tenten, open the door," he tried to keep alarm out of his voice, and it took every bit of composure not to break down the door. "Let me in," even as he spoke the door clicked open, and he could see the red splotchings begin to form over her exposed skin on her hands and wrists. The markings were an angry red, and Shikamaru caught her hand just as she aimed to itch again at her wrist. His hand wrapped around her forearm and he noted the expanse of his hand was big enough to completely cover her slender arm. "No scratching," he castigated in a low voice just as her other hand came up to scratch the one he had pinned down. He quickly grabbed it as well, then realized how very close they suddenly were to each other in the small bathroom. Her skin was still cold and damp from when his mom had hosed her off. His body pressed almost flush against hers, and he fought hard not to slam her up against the sink and plant a drudging kiss on her lips. The collar on the over –sized tee was off set that he could tell that the poison had spread to her neck with the possibility of reaching to parts of her back as well.

Her slender neck was prickled with the rash, and Tenten writhed beneath his grip to try and free a hand to scratch again. This time he did pin her up against the sink using the leverage of his weight and height to his advantage. The tension between them was palpable and the air was charged with raging pheromones as hormones surged and he had to struggle to keep them both in check.

"No scratching," his voice was husky with the promise of more touch, and Tenten raised an elegant eyebrow at him in a challenging way as if to say in a very sassy tone, _or what_?

His body so close to hers, his nose was plugged with her scent, even as it was almost washed away from the spray of the garden hose. It mixed well with the laundry smell of his old shirt, and Shikamaru had to steady his features to a neutral position not to close his eyes and breathe deeply from the tantalizing smell. After a few even breaths, he was sure he could continue, even as his eyes examined hers while he kept his grip firm but gentle. "If you scratch, it spreads it. That would be-"

"Troublesome?" Tenten guessed as she cocked her head to the side, exposing more raw, sanguineous flesh that Shikamaru couldn't help but scowl at.

"Promise me that you won't scratch until I apply the salve," again she squirmed beneath his grip, but this time he felt it wasn't so much from trying to escape him as it was to capture his attention.

"I will make no such promise. Instead, I promise that I will scratch as soon as you release me." She closed her eyes and writhed some more, "_It itches like crazy_."

How was he supposed to apply the salve if she was so stubborn? He needed to distract her long enough to apply it to the parts of her skin exposed by the plant's biotoxins. He leaned in towards her, slowly letting his face inch closer to hers. He nuzzled close by her face in the air, causing her to turn her head just so to accept the kiss. As soon as she closed her eyes to receive it was when he made his move. It took every ounce of his self-control not to just give in and kiss her. Her breath hitched and her eyes shot open when she realized that he had let go to form seals.

"I see you've picked up a few tricks," she spoke after a moments of composure to steady her voice. His shadow held her in place while he applied the ointment to the raw areas of her wrists freely without her having to mimic his movements.

He gave an apathetic shrug, "Improving one's skills is generally a good thing in the ninja world. Helps us not get dead on the battlefield." He moved from one wrist to the other, "Are you telling me that you couldn't take Temari given the opportunity for a re-match against her?" The coating was going on quickly and he hoped that his mother came back with a larger jar of it when she returned. If Tenten needed a second coat there probably wouldn't be enough.

"Let's not get crazy," Tenten acknowledged his comment with an even tone that did not speak of any hard feelings towards the sand kunoichi as she watched him apply the salve, "Temari is a seriously formidable opponent," then almost as an afterthought she added, "You should know that being so close to her."

Shikamaru paused in his rhythmic application to the slender inside of her wrist. "Oh, really? And why is that?" He tried to drawl all this out in a bored tone, but somehow the thought of Tenten thinking that he was with Temari for anything other than absolutely having to be in the same space as that infernal kunoichi pissed him off more than cared to admit.

"A genius doesn't spend that much time with a lethal and talented kunoichi like Temari without knowing her potential danger, political or otherwise."

He brushed up against her once again and stated so close to her that he only need to speak in a low whisper to be heard perfectly, "There is no _otherwise_ and we are _not_ that close." The conviction in his voice was firm and he used his proximity to draw a steady finger to her collar and pull the neck down past her shoulder so he could see just how far down the prickly wheals had spread. She complied by turning her head slowly so that he could examine her, a movement that almost mimicked submission as she turned away from him and clenched her jaw.

"How far down does this go?" Shikamaru asked after tenderly rubbing more slippery ointment to her neck. He had gone down as far as he could go without sticking most of his arm down her shirt and pressing up flush against her again. Not that he didn't want to flatten himself up against her, he just needed to get this stuff on to combat the irritants of the poison so that she could get better and possibly flatter herself against him of her own free will some day. Soon. Maybe. Hopefully.

"Not too much farther," she answered, and Shikamaru realized that he could feel the rises on her skin so he himself would be able find the ending point. All he had to do was stop when the skin tissue felt free and clear of swelling and bumps. The whole process would be easier if he could get her to turn around and he could lift her shirt from the back and see what he was doing so he didn't miss any areas. He figured that if he only had a little further then he could just finish where he was at and make her turn around and make sure that everything had gotten a fair amount of the salve on it afterwards. He found the process strangely intimate, the whole applying of a thick, oily substance to her skin. The swiping back and forth was almost like petting her skin to an unheard beat as he rhythmically continued his ministrations.

Somehow he must have let himself get lost in his actions and hadn't realized her lips where in his ear, so close he could feel them on his lobe as she whispered his name.

"_Shikamaru_."

(O)

A/N: I know, this got terribly long. I apologize. You guys have been wonderful about reviewing and alerting and favoriting my stories that I have decided to tell a funny story about the time my brother went to Peru if I reach over one hundred reviews for any of them. You may or may not find it funny depending on how much Spanish you know and if you get how twisted my brother's humor is. (Not the same brother with the baby seals mind you.) I am not doing this bribing; merely as how happy I will be if I get so many reviews. And if you really want to know and can't take the suspense, then PM me and I will give you the story any ways.


	8. Chapter 8

Shikamaru felt her lips against his ear, making the hair on the back of his neck prickle in response as she spoke his name.

"_Shikamaru_."

He closed his eyes to compose himself. Goosebumps formed over his skin and he had to breathe steadily for another moment stock-still as he relished his name on her lips. How could one whisper sound so…_seductive_?

He had to put space between him or he was not going to be able to control himself from pushing her flush against the wall and kissing her senseless. He quickly finished the area he was working then pried himself off of her by taking a few steps back, then and only then did he acknowledge that she had spoken his name.

"Yes, Tenten?" Shikamaru tried to look lazily at his one hand fingering the residue of the ointment in the pads of his fingers as if it that were more important than looking her in the eye.

"You can't hold me here like this forever," her logic appealed to Shikamaru's intellect, but did nothing but foolishly egg his hormones on to the challenge, "There is more on my back you didn't get, how are you going to get that covered if you don't let me go first?"

Shikamaru merely took his pointer finger in the air and drew a small circle with it, and she mimicked the motion of turning around, making her argument null and void as he lifted her shirt up to see there was only a small spot that he hadn't reached with the balm.

Despite the parts of her back that were mottled with the red wheals, her back was a divine curve of hard feminine muscles, making Shikamaru in no hurry to finish his task as he lazily took in the supple flesh with his eyes. Shikamaru had heard about how rigorous Team Gai's workouts could be, and he was grateful that this kunoichi didn't starve herself like his female teammate counterpart. Living up to her name as a tomboy, Tenten was well toned and slender, not giving way to being rail-thin like Ino had the propensity to be for the sake of being "more attractive". In his opinion, Tenten embodied exactly what a kunoichi should look like, her discipline of her workouts and training engraved in every sinewy bit of flesh she had, not to mention the mental clarity to be able to be a part of Team Gai and keep sane, which was equally appealing as her athletic build.

"Do you plan on keeping me here all night?" She spoke in a hushed tone, and Shikamaru had to shake the fuzzy thoughts out of his head about her in order to respond, only doing so with a very aloof grunt, as if he wasn't even paying attention to her. "Where do you go in that big brain of yours, I wonder," Tenten asked in a whisper as she tried to turn her head to see his face.

At this Shikamaru stepped back, pulling the shirt down carefully as to not let the salve rub off. Ignoring her, he capped the empty jar and pocketed it as if to signal they were done. "My father will know what to do concerning further medical treatment for your condition. We can sit in the living room until they get back."

"So you're going to release me?" Shikamaru couldn't help but smirk at the tinge of hope in her voice.

"Hardly, my chakra levels are pretty high; I can do this for hours if I have to. "

He brought her into the living room once more, trying hard not to stare at her discarded clothes in a neat pile in the corner of the bathroom on the way out. Her hair was still wet, and sitting stock-still for however long was more than likely going to cause Tenten to get chilly as she sat underneath an A/C duct for more than a few minutes. He grabbed a blanket and tucked her into the couch as gently as he faired, reminding himself not to linger too long on her shoulders as he finally moved away from her.

"Comfy?" he asked as he hovered above her, staying close in case she needed anything from him. She simply looked up with those amazing brown eyes, wide as ever and offered him her thanks. The salve they used had a numbing agent that would cause the itching to cease, it just needed a few minutes to properly get absorbed by the skin in order to feel the full effects. By his estimation, Shikamaru had at least ten minutes before he could even think about removing the jutsu.

"We have a while before this actually kicks in," Shikamaru referenced the clock behind him. "At a quarter after I can let you go. Until then, we have some time to kill."

Tenten took in a deep breath and looked around the living room. "You have a nice house," her voice was small and curious, "I bet you miss living here."

Shikamaru shrugged with an indolent grace that only people of his caliber of lankiness could manage to make look like work, "My parents are kind of odd, so I guess I don't miss it all that much."

Tenten was able to cock her head to the side despite his jutsu keeping her still, "Odd?" she asked innocently, "What do you mean odd? Your mom and dad seem very pleasant."

"They are," Shikamaru tried not to sound like an asshole complaining about his parents, knowing that Tenten's were no longer alive. "They just really appreciate their privacy."

"Am_ I_ intruding on their privacy?" Tenten asked as if she were afraid that she had committed an egregious sin just by sitting on their couch. Shikamaru loved the innocent look of her large eyes as they searched Shikamaru for answers.

"It's not like that. It's just that certain Nara members tend to have these sort of chakra surges that fluctuate periodically and the best way to regulate them is to…"

Unintelligible cursing was coming from the kitchen as the side door was being slammed shut with a brute kick. Shikamaru thanked the gods for his father's wonderful timing, having awkwardly stumbled into an explanation that he no longer felt comfortable giving. Still having a few minutes left on the clock, he didn't bother to release the jutsu before entering the kitchen to see what his normally reticent father was cussing about.

His father was rinsing his hands up to his forearms off in the kitchen sink, cursing madly as he did, mumbling about Jashin and Hidan with words he had never heard him string together before. Grabbing his father by his shoulder to try and calm him down and get a straight answer, he noted the red angry streaks as the water ran over his skin.

"Tell me there is still some left in the jar," the man drawled as he looked to his son as he let the cold water try and sooth his traumatized skin.

"Mom is bringing back more," Shikamaru showed the man the empty jar from his pocket, "What's this about Hidan?" His father closed his eyes as if trying to rein his tongue in from cursing more.

"That bastard's bad chakra is polluting the foliage on our property. I put a temporary seal around the perimeter to stop it for now. We will need a more permanent solution soon, however, especially if your mother and Tenten will continue to spar in the area."

"How far has it spread? Can we safely get a crew to work the area here tomorrow or will we need to put off construction until we can get things under control?" Shikamaru didn't want all of his efforts to be completely wasted, but the safety of everyone took precedence over everything else.

"I got the last of toxic plants and sealed him off for a few days at least and dear Kami _this itches_." Shikaku held a hand up to scratch a meaty forearm, but found himself thwarted by his son who stood in behind him in the last Nara trademark seal's position. Shikamaru had to release Tenten from the jutsu in order to do it, but as it was a quarter after the salve should have taken effect on alleviating the itch and stinging from toxins.

"Ma will kill me if you scratch, she will be here soon with more medicine. Sit tight, old man."

"Is everything alright?" Tenten asked as she pressed herself against the frame of the entrance to the kitchen.

"Dad got exposed," Shikamaru offered laconically making his father turn around to let her see the marks on his arms and hands. She offered up a hiss in response, then noted her own rash marring her hands and forearms as well. It wasn't a pretty sight.

"Yuck," she inspected the abrasions, "tell me that goop you used will magically heal this overnight."

Shikamaru and Shikaku exchanged glances. "Maybe not overnight, but damn near close. Most of it will be cleared up tomorrow and it should disappear completely in a few days."

Yoshino had finally come in through the side entrance slamming the door shut with her hip and reaching in a paper bag for the balm. "I pulled some strings with Ino at the hospital but I got a larger jar this time and _what the hell happened_?" her voice managed to come to alarming levels of concern over his father as she finally looked up from opening the jar.

"Shikamaru," His father spoke to him while still looking directly at his mother as she began to slather the ointment on liberally over his arms and hands, a firm scowl planted on his face, "put some of the balm from the larger jar into the smaller jar so that Tenten has some to take home. Make sure that it gets applied to her every four hours or so. Take her home and make sure she gets some rest. Take her to the hospital if her condition gets worse."

Shikamaru nodded, and after doing what his father instructed, led a very confused Tenten out the door after scooping up her wet clothes from the bathroom and snagging her heavy scrolls from the counter.

Once outside, Tenten began to reach for her sopping clothes underneath Shikamaru's arm. "I can take care of myself, really, you don't have to," Shikamaru pulled them out of her reach.

"And disobey my old man?" he glared at her as he switched the clothes to his other side so she couldn't pry them away from him. "I'm lazy, not stupid. You will stay in my apartment again until you heal, or it's my ass, got it?" She paused for a moment to mull it all over in her head.

"Alright," Tenten waved her red hands up in defeat. "So the plan is to what? Stay in your apartment for the rest of the day and look out your tiny window?"

"Hardly," Shikamaru answered. "We are going to do your laundry."

"Excuse me?" Tenten asked looking up from examining her wrists once again with a confused look.

It was a shame, really, she looked so damn _good_ in his clothes. "Wash your clothes, apply this," he held up the jar from his pocket, "get something to eat, go for a walk, apply this again, go to bed."

"Sounds simple enough," she didn't bother to argue with him and continued to walk on comfortably beside him. "I don't think I have ever been baby-sat before," Tenten mused before adding, "not as an adult at least."

"Then don't think of it that way," Shikamaru explained simply as he opened the door for the Weapon's Mistress of Konoha to the noisy laundry mat, "Think of it as helping me stay out of trouble with my old man."

His voice was barely audible over the thrum of machines spinning and whirring clothes in various stages of cleanliness from each corner of the stuffy room. Shikamaru let her take the scrolls from off of his shoulder, a questioning look with one arched brow over the excuse he had given her about his motives. She said nothing more about the subject however, only unfurled a scroll and dumped some clothes into a washer and then searched her other scroll for detergent and coins. Shikamaru remembered his left-over coins from his trip earlier, still clanking noisily around in his pocket. He pressed them into the slots nonchalantly while Tenten occupied herself with trying to unzip the seal on her soap. Shikamaru didn't use dry detergent, but he was pretty sure there was no way that she was going to be able open the box with her hands covered in the salve. He dumped the wet clothes with the others in the single washing machine and grabbed the box from her hands.

Wiping the goop off on his pants, with a simple tug of the string, he freed the lid, then rummaged his fingers around searching for a scoop. Coming up empty he noticed that Tenten had already fished one out of her scroll and was reaching for the small box of soap from him. She carefully measured one full scoop and carefully distributed it evenly through the load and closed the lid. Noticing the coins in the slots, she gestured with her hands and looked at him for an explanation as to why he would be paying for the load.

Shikamaru just shrugged, she rolled her eyes, and then pressed them into the machine to start the one load.

One load. She was only doing one load of laundry. She either had more laundry that she just refused to wash in front of him, which he doubt because he saw bras and underwear go into that one load while she was dumping them in, or she only had enough clothes to fill one washer.

His money was on that was all she had. She snapped everything away in her scrolls save for pocketing a few coins to operate the dryer when the sole load finished. The load that barely constituted more than half a normal load of laundry. No wonder she had been in need to do laundry, she most likely only had enough for a week and a half of clothes, tops.

"Come on," he spoke with a nod to the door, "Laundry mats are stuffy, let's look around the shops for a while." If Ino ever found out that he was about to take a female shopping he would be her personal shopping slave for life.

He decided it was worth the risk.

A/N: Thank you my loverlies for reviewing, favoriting, and alerting this bad boy. Your love and support is what keeps me writing.

(O)

Here is some random crap: Enjoy

"Last Halloween he broke in and yelled 'Trick Or Tranq!' and then shot me in the ass with a furry tipped dart with his riffle. Bastard."

0xP

Yep, I've lost it…cheers!

Jaggedjacket


	9. Chapter 9

Her damn teammates were ruining all of his plans. Tenten and Shikamaru hadn't even walked three blocks outside of the laundry mat before Lee caught up with her. Following close behind him, and Shikamaru had to scowl even deeper at this, was her sensei and Neji to boot. He gave them their distance, let them hug and touch her as much as they dared within the limits of her rash without him rushing over in a jealous rage. He really, really didn't like it when Neji touched her, even though Lee was a bit more open about his affections to her. They were talking just out of ear shot, which only served to make him feel more like an outsider on her life instead of an intricate piece he was hoping revolved closer around her.

Hands in his pockets, it was hard not to feel overly scrutinized when all of Team's Gai's eyes landed on him at once.

Neji walked up to him while his eyes narrowed on him like an interloper, with a cold, calculated stare. "We need the ointment." Palm outstretched in front of him, Neji waited for Shikamaru to hand over the jar. He relinquished it with a curse loudly resounding through his thoughts even as he remained calm and passive on his exterior.

"Every four hours, or my father will kill me," Shikamaru reminded. Neji nodded and curtly thanked him before returning to his team.

_Damn_. He had been _so_ close.

It almost hurt to watch them all together with their backs turned, walking away from him. His eyes lingered on her tall form. He sighed. The gods must hate him. She was choosing them, and as much as he hated it, he understood. They were her family after all.

Then the unthinkable happened. She left the group and ran up to him, all with her teammates waiting impatiently out of earshot. Served them right to be on that end for a change.

"Hey," Tenten bounded up to him, and his heart warmed considerably just by her very presence. "I just wanted to thank you again, for everything." She smiled sweetly at him, with a shyness he had never seen before.

"Any time." He tried to fight the smile from leaking out in his voice, his face nearly hurt from trying to remain so neutral.

"Gai is making me stay at the hospital," she stated, nervously picking at a nail with her thumb. "Not that you couldn't have taken care of me," she rushed apologetically. "He just gets a little…" she searched for the right word. Shikamaru tried not to supply the word "crazy" aloud. "He just gets a little overprotective," she finished firmly, almost diplomatically.

Shikamaru nodded. "If you still need a place to crash afterwards," Shikamaru tried not to sound too eager, "my door is always open."

She smiled again, and nodded back to him. "Thanks again." This time she reached out and squeezed his arm.

"I mean it." His eyes searched hers for a long moment as if trying to say without words everything that he wanted to tell her but couldn't. "My door is _always_ open." Shikamaru watched her return to her team, feeling a little better about her coming back just to have a private conversation with him.

He headed off to find Ino, thinking it was time to make good on the promise to himself to ask her out on a date before all the housing units on his property were complete. If he played his cards right with Ino, he would be able to make it a win/win for both of them.

(o) (o) (o) (o) (o) (o)

"You want me to buy you a dress?" Ino managed to arch a platinum blonde eyebrow higher than he had ever seen before. She waited patiently for his answer, letting her bare feet scrape across the wooden floor as she shifted her weight against the support of the adjoining wall.

"When you put it like that, you make it sound as if _I_ am going to wear it." Shikamaru scowled at how troublesome this whole talk with Ino had become. "It's not for me it's for a girl." He pressed his own body against her front door, trying hard not scrutinize the photos on walls to see if he could find any of Tenten amongst them. He only needed to be here a few minutes, and he was hoping that lingering by the kunoichi's door would queue her that he needed to be somewhere else.

"I wasn't going to judge." She stuck out two hands up in front of her towards him as if to show she really meant it. She was wearing her loungy clothes, he noted. The ones she always wore after a long shift at the hospital. He wondered if she even knew that Tenten had been admitted earlier today.

"Ino, I am serious." Shikamaru rubbed the length of his nose to soothe the inevitable headache he felt coming on. There on her wall, he could spot the familiar Mickey-mouse silhouette on a random photo mostly covered up with a magnet on her fridge. He tried not to strain to get a better look. "She has nothing by way of anything girly and I really thought you would be the one who would want to help her in this department." He sighed and shoved a fist into his pocket in desperation, "Never mind, I can just ask my mom or maybe Choji's mom…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," the blonde let out with another hand up to get him to stop talking, "I never said I wasn't going to help," she spoke slowly, not using her normal high-pitched snarl like she used to use during her genin days, "I just need a little more information is all." She was reacting with an even temper and was calm. Shikamaru went on full alert. There was flicker of evil in her eyes. It could only mean one thing: she knew something already.

"So I spill, you help me. Have we got a deal?" Shikamaru let his eyes flickered back and forth between her brightly lit ice-blue orbs. He decided that Ino was actually going to not only help, but be helpful as well, so he acquiesced as his tall body slouched in response. Ino gave a firm nod not only that they had a deal, but for him to continue.

"The dress is for Tenten, I want to ask her out," he had barely got the sentence out of his mouth before he felt her tugging on his arm with her body weight, and heard the squealing resonating a high-pitched frequency that instantly hurt his ears. She was jumping up and down like a child, hands clenched around one of his arms as she switched between fits of "_I knew it! I knew it!"_ and her sharp bouts of cacophonic screeches.

"Would you calm down!" Shikamaru tried to raise his voice over the one woman rise in mayhem that suddenly exploded in front of him, "Ino! Get a hold of yourself!"

The smile on Ino's face was welcome, even if her actions were a bit dramatic. She released him and raised a lofty finger at him, "You two are going to make such a cute couple!"

Shikamaru tried to fight against Ino's infectious happiness over the incident by asking a question, "Wait, Ino, how did you know? I haven't even told Choji about her yet. What tipped you off?"

Ino had that sly look on her face. The one where she knew something juicy and you didn't. He'd seen that look when she was able to get fantastic and accurate intel on someone that was said to be impossible to do. Ino's smug look was a sure fire give away that she knew something about the two of them that he didn't.

"I saw Tenten at the hospital today," she slithered that statement out like a snake, "She asked me for a favor, to tell you something."

He instantly perked up and leaned his body off the wall in anticipation of her response. "What did she say?" He asked in a rush, no longer trying to disguise his delight, "Did she ask about me? What did she want to tell me?"

"Whoa," she backed up against the wall again and held out her arms, all the while that evil glint of mischief was held captive in her eyes, "Down Boy, I'll spill, just chill."

Shikamaru took a breath of air to try to regain his patience. All the while thoughts of how she actually might be into him flooded over him with hope. He might actually have a shot at THE Weapon's Mistress of Konoha.

"She asked me to ask you if you could take care of her laundry." Ino's smile was wide and glorious like the Cheshire Cat. "Okay, you have to tell me what that is code for," Ino's eyes went large. "I am _dying_ to know."

Shikamaru closed his eyes then let his spine hit solidly on the door behind him. He rasped out yet another exasperated sigh. "It just means that she wants me to finish doing her laundry." He let his eyes close as he recounted the story to Ino of how Tenten got caught up in the poisonous plants and everything before and after that account. He told her about how he had a crush on her since even before the chunin exams all the way up until him helping her with laundry. He even confessed to being jealous of not just Neji and Lee, but Gai as well since they were all always taking up valuable time that he could be trying to spend with her.

Ino listened to everything that he had to say very quietly and analytically. He had to admit that even Ino saw things in a view that was all her own. Perhaps she could shed some light onto his situation and help him out.

A pregnant pause had Shikamaru stock –still against the door rethinking his options. He kept telling himself that since he started doing laundry with her that was why she wanted him to finish as well. Yet there was a nagging question in the back of his mind that needed a definitive answer. Why didn't she just ask Lee to finish drying her laundry? If they had spent so much time in camp as much as she said, Lee certainly would have not only have known how many clothes she had, but probably had helped wash them as well. Shikamaru certainly had done his fair share of team ten clothes out on missions before. He was also certain that Lee wasn't headed off for any new missions either.

Ino finally voiced what the shadow user had been thinking. "So if you really think that Tenten isn't in to you, why did she ask _you_ and not _Lee_ to dry her laundry?"

"My guess is that I just happened to know where it was." Shikamaru's voice seemed to sour as he spoke his words. He hadn't realized he had reached over into the friend zone so quickly. Now he seemed doomed to stay there. "Maybe this was a bad idea."

"No." Ino's voice was firm, scolding him for his sudden acquiesce into defeat before he knew for sure the outcome. "You weren't there. There was definitely something up by the way that she asked me for the favor. Don't count yourself out just yet. I think she wanted to you to take it so she could have an excuse to go find you."

Shikamaru perked up, "You really think so?"

"Yes," the blonde spoke with conviction, "Now, don't you have some one's laundry to dry?" She gave him another smirk, one that spoke she was confident that the older girl was definitely into him.

Shikamaru smiled. "I suppose I do."

A/N: I know. I posted. I am moving but everything is being delayed. So we are in the process of packing and unpacking boxes for the next two weeks until the house that we are going to is fixed and up to code. How miserable. I hate Limbo. To vent, I write. Hope you all enjoy


	10. Chapter 10

Shikamaru was pretty sure that he had gone completely insane. Since he was smiling, and couldn't help himself from doing so, it didn't concern himself much as he probably thought it should. Shikamaru, the world's laziest ninja, was happy to be doing a mundane chore such as laundry, and all with a big fat smile on his face. He lifted a balled up shirt from the pile and shook it out, thinking of the kunoichi that it belonged to. He folded it neatly with the others, making sure that the lines were straight where he creased the sleeves back. He wasn't even close to being this meticulous when it came to folding his own laundry. Somehow it gave him great pleasure that he was able to do something to help Tenten out, even if it wasn't that big of a deal and wouldn't nearly mean as much to her as it meant to him. His sloppy smile didn't waver as he settled the neat piles of clothes into one of his hampers. He made sure it was one of _his_ hampers. He wanted to give her a reason to come see him again. Perhaps he would have to go to her in order to "get it back."

He also knew his little crush on her was getting out of hand. The better part of his intellect rationalized that he should not put as much effort into troublesome things such as emotions or let himself be comfortable with this infatuation. He then figured that his higher brain functions could take an extended vacation while he let his happy heart take the lead for a while. All things considered, he liked thinking of Tenten this way, even at the expense that she might not return the kinds of feelings that he had for her. He was willing to take the risk.

He stared for a bit at the clothes in his hamper, perhaps a little too satisfied at how well her clothes looked inside of it. He liked the thought of her things next to his. The notion was ridiculous. It was girlish and silly and even though he _knew_ it, he still couldn't wipe the fatuous grin off his face. Somehow, he didn't care. He wanted to be with Tenten, and even stupid, completely irrational things like this were causing him to smile.

Now if he could just get _her_ here…

He tried to regain some coherent thoughts about everything that needed to be done about the reconstruction. He still had to talk to his father about details…really boring details and permits and legal fees…

Now that his scowl was back full force he headed out to his parents to find his father.

He looked dubiously at the front door half open and immediately took his hands out of his pockets. It wasn't like either of his parents to leave the front door open. His mom would have screamed herself hoarse yelling about how _we are ninja and we __**do not leave**__ this door __**open**__! _Shikamaru was instantly alert and searching stealthily through his parent's house, checking for any sign of a struggle or break-in. Lights were on, but he couldn't sense any chakra signatures in the house.

Then he spied smeared red all over the counter as he rounded the corner to the kitchen. Then the dishtowels saturated on the sink, soaked with blood came into view as he followed the trail further into the house.

Something bad happened.

He slammed the front door as he headed to the hospital, hoping desperately that his parents were okay.

When he had gotten to the hospital, a team of injured shinobi had walked in minutes before him, so he had to wait patiently for someone to be free enough to help him with his inquiry about his parents. Cold tiles and harsh, florescent lights pierced his view of the blindingly white hospital. The smell of stale disinfectant was overwhelming; it was no wonder the Inuzuka preferred their own clinic when injured. They no doubt had better and safer ways of sterilizing that wouldn't leave even someone who wasn't a tracker like himself wanting to run far and wide from the overriding stench of chemicals and solvents. Shikamaru tried to focus on the inevitable headache that would ensue after being exposed to a healthy amount of irritating substances. He did the math in his head. Bleach, plus blinding lights, times frustration, minus pertinent information, equaled instant migraine. He wouldn't think about how one of his parents might be critically injured. He wouldn't let his brain linger on the possibility that it might have been from the poisonous plants and how it might have affected Tenten as well. He couldn't let himself dwell on such things; he'd go mad if he did.

Instead he rolled over how much he was going to yell at them for leaving the front door open and forced himself to think about how his head was going to hurt very soon. His dark eyes settled on a clock that wasn't hanging quite straight on the wall as he tried not to let his mind wander.

He couldn't figure out who he was more worried about, one of his parents getting injured or Tenten's condition worsening. It seemed a horse a piece.

He also tried not to think about what that meant.

He couldn't wait any longer.

He roamed the halls, careful to duck certain personnel as he checked for three familiar chakra signatures. He nearly fell over with relief when he came across his parents sitting on a gurney whispering to each other as they brushed their shoulders against one another affectionately. Despite that the pre-teen in him from 10 years ago wanted to puke at how his parents were quietly flirting with each other like teenagers, in the hospital no less, the young adult in him currently who just wanted his parents alive, now kind of understood them a bit better as he collapsed on his knees in front them. He was overcome with relief.

He let his head fall in between their knees on the gurney. He tried to will his heart to start beating regularly again. His mom began to pat his head gently, weaving her hands through his hair as his breathing regulated.

"I dropped by the house…"

They were probably looking at each other, possibly wondering why his statement came out in a strangled whisper. He could feel the weight of his father's hand on his shoulders. Shikamaru lifted his head to look at them both.

He managed to find his voice. "You both scared the crap out of me. What happened?"

"Your mother cut herself cooking dinner. It was my fault for…distracting her." Shikaku scratched his scars with a bandaged hand lazily as he avoided eye contact with his son. Shikamaru didn't need more than that description to make the connection to what happened in the kitchen. No doubt his father's bandaged hands didn't help the situation at all. Shikamaru spied his mother's hurt hand sitting limply on her lap. Because of his father's injuries, he was unable to heal her there on the spot and then rushed her to the hospital. Three wrapped fingers. His mother was fine.

"Shouldn't it be a rule not to fool around while one of you is sick or injured?" Shikamaru stood up and forced his hands in his pockets and promptly balled them into fists. He didn't realize how angry he had suddenly become. The frustration could be heard in his voice. He was a patient man, but losing it fast. "Or at least not around sharp pointy objects…I don't care how kinky you guys get." He was nearly yelling now. His parents exchanged glances at each other at the strange role reversal that had occurred, "And for that matter you left the front door open!" Their eyebrows shot up in disbelief that their son had the audacity to castigate them this way.

Shikamaru took a calming breath as he closed his eyes and willed all of the nonsense in his life to disappear. He finally opened them to the sound of his parent's quiet laughter.

Rubbing his temples with a bit more force than he intended, he muttered an exaggerated "troublesome" before heading down the hall away from the source of his oncoming head ache.

…

He happened upon Tenten's room before he it even registered he was looking for it. That made his surprised reaction to hear her call his name as he walked by all the more believable. Suddenly all the tension that formed after leaving his apartment until that moment faded away as he back-pedaled a few steps to the entrance of Tenten's hospital room.

She smiled up at him as she coyly fingered her blanket with two scared fingers, fidgeting nonchalantly in an upright position on her bed. Her head was bent low, as if she wasn't sure she should have gotten his attention in the first place, and then she looked up at him through thick eyelashes with a coquette quirk to her features as she met his gaze. Shikamaru finally remembered his tongue after a few beats of taking in her cute and suddenly shy demeanor. Even in a hospital gown and covered with bandages, Tenten was quite breath-taking.

"Hey," he spoke by way of trying to sound casual, "how are you feeling?" He was glad his hands were firmly in his pockets as his palms were starting to sweat. Her hospital gown was pooled around her shoulders, exposing the long curvature of her neck and elegant collar bones. Shikamaru tried not to stare at how her skin seemed to glow even in the harsh brightness of the florescent lights.

He really wasn't expecting such a candid answer from her.

"Terrible." She muttered mostly to herself as she looked up at him fully with those dark-honey brown eyes of hers, intense and staring Shikamaru down like she was going to ask something, but then quickly changed her mind. She turned her head to the side instead, as if she were ashamed of herself for speaking so bluntly, knowing he had heard her confession.

"Sorry," she apologized immediately for her honest reply, "I mean I am fine," she said as she forced a fake smile on her face, all the while her eyes pleaded with him silently to pick up that she was far from it.

Shikamaru instinctively found himself at the side of the bed, setting himself down on the large part of it that wasn't covered with her body.

"What is it?" He was smitten. Oh, the woman could have asked for his spleen and he would have surgically removed it then and there for her. He raked over her form quickly to assess whether her condition had been exasperated during the course of her hospital stay. He had no way of knowing whether her skin had gotten better or worse without removing the strips of cloth and inspecting her wounds. "Is it bothering you? Do you need me to get a doctor?"

Tenten shook her head slowly, keeping her eye contact locked with his. The look in her eyes suggested something else, though he wasn't able to read exactly what it was that the kunoichi wanted from him.

"No, I…" she trailed off and bowed her head with shame once again for bringing up her umbrage with whatever it was that caused her to say "terrible" as a response to how she was doing. Another fake smile to him as she perked up to try to cover it up again, "Really, I am fine." It sounded like she was trying to convince herself. "I just don't have an affinity for hospitals is all."

Ah, he could relate to that. The sheer boredom alone was enough to drive him insane.

Shikamaru took his hand out of his pocket to scratch his chin thoughtfully. It occurred to him as he did it that he picked up the mannerism from his father and quickly dropped his hand to her knee and gave what he hoped was a friendly squeeze. He gave her a smirk, letting the mischief settle in his eyes. Tenten gave him her undivided attention with bright, impish features at his next words.

"Then let's get you out of here. Are you up for a jail break?"

A/N: Load up on your vitamin D this winter. It's going to be a long one.


End file.
